1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel form of road vehicle, which has been devised to meet the requirements of an emergency tender designed to deal with a wide variety of incidents but is of value for many other purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Emergency vehicles such as those operated by fire brigades and other services may be called upon to provide support in diverse locations for dealing with a range of incidents ranging from fires and road traffic accidents to chemical spillages and emergencies in the countryside and in the home. To cope adequately with so many different eventualities, the vehicle must carry a large quantity of equipment of many types. Thus a typical emergency tender may be a covered vehicle with items of equipment distributed around its inner walls. Access to that equipment is inevitably restricted by the need to reach it from inside the vehicle and the carrying capacity of the vehicle is in turn limited by the need to provide such interior access. A review of a range of available vehicles leads to the conclusion that there is a need for an emergency tender affording improved access to a high-capacity load, while not unduly increasing the size of the vehicle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle which can meet that need.